Posts Tagged ‘short story’

Wasseem meets Omar at the gym “You won’t believe what I’m about to tell you. Do you remember what happened when I sold my phone number? I called the number and a nice girl answered. The girl whose voice I liked so much?”

“You met her?”

“Yes. No. Yes. I’m not sure if Reem is her”

“Reem? Your partner? Explain. I’m lost.”

“Yes, Reem my partner. I was writing her phone number on my cell phone and it happened to be my old number. I was in shock. Didn’t know what to ask her. It could be her. Or maybe the girl that answered me, sold the number and Reem bought it.”

“It could be the same girl, it could be two different girls. What’s with you and voices?”

“What?”

“The girl you called, you fell in love with her voice. When your manager introduced Reem you liked her voice. Remember when you said : ‘She knocked on the door and said good morning, I had to turn to see if she’s good-looking as her voice is, and there in front of me was a lovely nice lady. Remember?”

“Reem really has a tender soft voice. Anyway what shall I do now?”

“Grow up.”

“Excuse me?”

“My friend you need to grow up and stop thinking about such stupid little things. I know you won’t ask Reem since when she owns this number, or if she got any mysterious calls from a guy claiming to be the owner of it. It could be a coincidence, and it could be her. Just stop thinking about the matter. Enjoy your partnership and friendship with Reem. Enjoy your job. Leave it to time, and time will answer your questions.”

Wasseem and Reem worked well as a team. Their partnership shifted to friendship, and then they fell in love. One day, at a restaurant, while waiting for a business man to have an interview with, they had a conversation, Reem said “Well first time I met you, I said ‘Please I don’t want another Wasseem’ “.

“Why? How many Wasseems do you know?”

“Let’s say all the Wasseems I know gave me wrong impressions about the name. My brother had a friend named Wasseem, who wasn’t a trustworthy person. My father’s cousin is named Wasseem, and I don’t like him, he thinks he’s funny but he’s not.”

“So I’m different from the other Wasseems?”

“Ofcourse you are. You made me love the name. But I haven’t finished the Wasseem list. Listen to this. The number I own now was for a guy named Wasseem. I kept receiving calls from his friends asking for him. Then one day he called and said that he wanted to make sure if he’s number is in safe hands. And the next day he called claiming to be working for a statistics company. I recognized his voice and asked him to stop calling. Back then I don’t know why, but I wished he’d call for the third time, but he didn’t. Strange story, right?”

Wasseem answered “It is. But I’m happy he didn’t call for the third time.”

At this moment they spotted their guest entering the restaurant. They welcomed him to the table. Reem turned on the recorder, they prepared their papers and started the interview.

When the interview was done, and the man left, they called Omar to meet them for lunch.

Omar came to the restaurant. They ordered lunch.

Reem said “Be right back boys. Must pay the lady’s room a visit.”

Wasseem found it the right time to tell his friend what happened.

Omar was shocked upon hearing that. “Look, Wasseem, hiding the truth is not a lie. No need to tell her that you’re the Wasseem who called her. But if you want to tell her, it’s up to you.”

When Reem came back to the table she sensed that the boys shared a secret at that moment, but she did not ask because she thought it has to do with Omar’s personal life. They had lunch and held normal conversations.

At night, Reem was reviewing the interview, she picked up the recorder from her bag and found it was still on. “It definitely needs a recharge now.” She listened to the interview and corrected her notes. But when the interview finished, “I think the recorder would tell me about that little secret between Wasseem and Omar.”

She left it on, and heard everything. She told her father “Dad, it’s Wasseem’s habit to call after 10 minutes to wish me a goodnight. When he calls, please answer the phone and say ‘Reem is so sick, she’s in bed, she thinks the food you had has made her sick’ ”

The phone rings, Reem’s father asnwers “Hi Wasseem”

“Hello, hope your good. Is Reem in bed? Wanted to wish her a goodnight.”

“Reem is sick, she’s in bed. She believes that the lunch you guys had made her sick.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Wasseem was at their doorstep in less than 15 minutes. Reem’s father opens the doors and Reem is sitting on the couch waiting for him. She has the recorder in her hands, and clicks on play the moment Wasseem steps in.

Wasseem wasn’t prepared for that. ‘I can explain.”

“I know you can. But I don’t want an explanation. I’m not even mad at what happened. I like our story. But I want you to promise me one thing: we keep no secrets from each other. No matter how silly or important it is. We should be honest at all times. We’re still in the beginning, let’s practice honesty.”